It may seem rather early to open a topic for the 2012 WHC but we are soon likely to begin to hear about nomination papers being prepared and lodged (This has to be done by Jan 2011 I think??).

It appears that Cambodia will be hosting the meeting in Siem Reap.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2010/09/14/5004923.htm.

Any knowledge as to what sites might be "in the frame"??

Presumably Cambodia will be hoping to get a reward in the form of an inscription?
There appears to have been quite a lot of activity around Banteay Chhmar which might indicate an intention to get it ready in time - though there also appear to be some doubts about whether this can be done. Going for it in the "WHC hosting year" would seem a good strategy!!
http://www.globalheritagefund.org/where/uk_banteay.html
http://www.cambodiatripadvisor.com/guide/TravelNews/banteaychmar/
http://banteaychhmar.net/?page_id=2

And I wonder what Thailand will make of all this regarding its beliefs as to whether UNESCO is being even handed on the Preah Vihear matter?

Some sites that might be nominated for inscription in 2012:
Italy: Vineyard landscapes of Piedmont http://www.paesaggivitivinicoli.it/
France: Landscapes of Champagne http://www.paysagesduchampagne.fr/
Germany: Bayreuth Opera House http://bayreuth.bayern-online.de/magazin/artikelansicht/bayreuth-auf-dem-weg-zum-welt erbe/
Germany: Residence of Schwetzingen http://www.schloss-schwetzingen.de/de/schloss-schwetzingen/UNESCO-Verfahren/271259.ht ml
Spain: Monfragüe Trujillo Plasencia http://www.hoy.es/v/20100619/regional/espana-avala-monfrague-para-20100619.html
Capo Verde: Concentration Camp of Tarrafal http://www.asemana.publ.cv/spip.php?article41172
Senegal: Bassari Region http://yveslebelge.skynetblogs.be/archive/2010/08/10/saloum-et-bassari-au-patrimoine- mondial-de-l-unesco.html
Belgium: Mining sites of Wallonie http://www.lesoir.be/actualite/monde/2010-07-22/patrimoine-mondial-les-sites-miniers- wallons-en-lice-783086.php
Canada: Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park http://www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/consult/notifications/writingonstonePP.aspx

I would be quite keen on any information about potential Cambodian inscriptions/ movements.

The Cape Verdean proposal looks very interesting. I don't know enough to see if it really warrants inscription, I will have to look into it a little more. However I don't know a huge amount about the decline of the Portuguese empire outside of Portugal itself so it seems intriguing.
I was just wondering are there any other sites that directly relate to the decline of colonial empires?

What about the new UK tentative list? I think it should be ready for 2012 to have its first sites proposed.
Perhaps one of the transnational serials: Chapaq Nan and Le Corbusier.

Re the new UK T List and the 2012 WHC.

a. The timetable for assessment of the candidates is here
http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/historic_environment/7358.aspx
It only envisages the new T list being presented to UNESCO in Feb 2011 and the first nomination from it being "from" Jan 2012 i.e for consideration at the 2013 WHC at earliest (and even that is only a "possible"!). That of course would require the site to be fully ready - probably only Chatham could do that, having been ready in the wings on the old list for some time.
b. The UK nomination for consideration at the 2012 WHC is intended to be "The Twin Monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow" as the last nomination from the current T List But it has already missed an earlier Jan 2010 deadline despite a version of its Nomination document having been available here for some time (It was said that the nomination would be stronger if it were given an extra year for preparation!!)
http://www.wearmouth-jarrow.org.uk/why.asp
c. ALL the application forms of sites wanting to be considered for the new T List have now been provided to me by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Els is gradually putting them up here
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/countries/uktsites.php
d. With the massive expenditure reductions which will be required of Local and Central Government over the next few years it will be interesting to see which of the sites on the new T List do feel able to rustle up the costs of preparing a nomination during this period! A bit difficult to do when you are cutting front line services left, right and centre!

Germany 2011 - 2012 World Heritage

Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (extension to
Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians) (2011)

The Fagus Factory in Alfeld (2011)

Margravial Opera House Bayreuth – Outstanding
Monument of Baroque Theatre Culture (2012)

Schwetzingen: a Prince Elector's Summer Residence (2012)

*Some of these sights actually look pretty interesting, however aren't most of these sights already over-represented? Germany already has 33 WHS! When are nominations from Germany, Spain, Italy, and France ever going to slow down?

Re Tarrafal Camp: This camp was originally created for the political opponents of the Salazar regime in Portugal. Only towards the end did it play a role in the collapse of the Portuguese colonial empire as African opponents were imprisoned there.

In terms of concentration camps for political opponents, maybe one of the various Gulags in the former Soviet Union might be more "representative" (though it seems quite repulsive to even discuss which of the myriad of internment camps that humanity invented best "represents" this human trait....).

Since Germany, France, Spain and Italy have a rich history, a busy tourism industry, the money and the motivation they are all likely to go on nominating sites annually forever. The only way to 'stop' them, namely to reduce their extreme overrepresentation on the list is for Unesco to refuse to nominate sites that are 'more of the same' from these countries. This applies to most of their current proposals. However, the recent nominations of Regensburg, Mantua and Albi clearly show these countries could go on and on forever with no stopping them.

I like the idea of nations in the European Union having only 2 sites up for nomination a year. In which nations within Europe with far smaller representation on the list would be considered more early on. This would hopefully result in most European nations focusing more money on preservation and possible extentions than actually having new sites inscribed. (As it seems it becoming more and more expensive to have new sites inscribed) I would suspect some of these overly long tentative lists would also be trimmed down in favor of the more strong under-represented sites.

I got the info that Cambodian Government is planning to create tourist route like "Golden Triangle" linking Angkor, Preah Vihear and Sambur Prei Kuk. So maybe they intend to nominate Sambur Prei Kuk to be WHS soon.

I think Sambur Prei Kuk which is under pre-Ankorian theme is easier to do a trick for ICOMOS more than Banteay Chhmar which is the same period of Angkor.

Durian, thanks for the informationon Cambodia, will have to look up Sambur Prei Kuk as I don't know much about it.

Apparently it still isn't certain that UK will be nominating Monkwearmouth and Jarrow for 2012.
The following report merely states
"Today (1 Oct 2010) a final draft application is being submitted to English Heritage, prior to it being considered in December by Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. If all goes to plan, the bid will be endorsed as the UK's official World Heritage nomination to be submitted to Unesco in January"

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/World-Heritage-status-moves-a.6561001.jp

Two news articles for China's bid for 2012 (Sorry, no site in English; but try Google Translate to get the gist of the news articles)

For cultural:
Sites of the Yuan Dynasty Upper Capital (Xanadu) and Middle Capital
http://nm.people.com.cn/GB/196667/12889018.html

For natural, though the report did not exactly specify this for 2012. Still, many articles point to this "pick" - Xinjiang Tianshan
http://www.ylccp.gov.cn/powereasy/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=42742

These two places will be the first for Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regions

Spot on, I just visietd Bantay Chmar with peole working for the global heritage fund. Sambor Prei Kuk is being lined up as the next potential WHS with Bantay Chmar to follow a few years later.
It would make an awful lot of senxe to put Sambur Prei Suk forward when Cambodia hosts the comittee so I imagine this is being readied for 2012.

There is a lot of work going on at Bantay CHmar and the aim is for it to become a WHS in the near futre, the current projecthas funding until 2012 so I would guess we would start to get movement sometime after that. They have already spent a fair bit of time producing maps and the like s I imagine this is helping with drafting the propossal!

It is a magnificent site by the way, will write up a review soon.

Seemed you had a great trip, meltwaterfalls, thanks for update on Cambodian nomination plan. According to my latest info three sites will be nominated in consecutive years, Banteay Chmar, Sambor Prai Kuk and Ankor Borei. Hope you see all those sites on your visit :)